Social networking sites are one of those things that make me feel like an old man shaking my fist at the goddamn whippersnappers. I had MySpace for a while, but deleted it after I came to the realization that it's mostly for people of Gump-level intelligence. Facebook is slightly less awful. I told my friend the other day that I think social networking sites like that strip human interaction down to its most insipid, ultimately meaningless elements, and he told me I'm just an old codger.

shit, i find that actual in person conversation is often just human interaction stripped down to its most insipid, meaningless elements. people do not like to talk about anything of consequence in any forum, but that doesn't stop them from wanting to talk. most human interaction consists of people pitching bullshit at each other full-tilt and without stopping for hours at a time.

well, yeah, virtually everyone is an idiot to varying extents at different times. that's part of being a person. but like, your description of what most conversations are like sounds more than a little embittered.

Facebok can be pretty invasive. My boyfriend didnt want it showing his married/single/hooked up status, and it defaulted to single, so he tried to take it off, and it sent every one of his facebook friends a little heart saying COLIN HAS MET SOMEONE!

Logged

I think it's fair to assume we'll be inebriated and covered in bodily effluvia all weekend

Really, the whole thing's stupid. I used to think 'Hey, this is a great way to keep up with people I wouldn't otherwise' but really I don't wanna keep up with anyone I wouldn't otherwise write or call.

It completely destroys the whole 'oh I haven't seen x in 10 years, wonder what they're up to' thing too. Not only do I not want to keep up with anyone I don't feel the need to write or call, I also don't want to write or call anyone who is not related to me. So these sites really destroy the only context in which I'm interested in these people, as sort of a running into them at the supermarket kind of thing.

I'm on myspace and facebook. I just joined facebook a month or two ago, and I really don't like the layout. It seems really cluttered and ugly to me, so I tend to avoid going there at all. That, coupled with the fact that people keep trying to get me to join lame vampire groups or something, really makes me wish that everyone I'm keeping in touch with via facebook was just on myspace instead.

Wait, you prefer the layout of myspace to facebook? I'm not standing up for facebook here at all, but myspace has to be one of the ugliest sites on the web. And one of it's key selling points is that you can make it as ugly as you want to!

Also, as far as uncertainty goes: I haven't been to work since last Sunday, and I don't go back until next Saturday. I don't really need the money right now, but this is kind of fuckin ridiculous. Stupid overstaffing.

My uncertainty: we have a furnace in our bedroom, rather than the heat being shared between the lower and upper flats. Last night, twice the furnace shot a flame about a foot out the side, after making a loud POP! noise. Luckily there is nothing right there so nothing caught on fire, but holy fuck is this kinda scary. I called the maintenance guy/new landlord and he's coming to take a look at it but honestly the guy is wholly inept so I don't know what will happen.

(Speaking of all this, can one get out of a lease if your landlord dies and their successor is a total fuckwit?)

My uncertainty: we have a furnace in our bedroom, rather than the heat being shared between the lower and upper flats. Last night, twice the furnace shot a flame about a foot out the side, after making a loud POP! noise. Luckily there is nothing right there so nothing caught on fire, but holy fuck is this kinda scary. I called the maintenance guy/new landlord and he's coming to take a look at it but honestly the guy is wholly inept so I don't know what will happen.

(Speaking of all this, can one get out of a lease if your landlord dies and their successor is a total fuckwit?)

you know, my furnace did this last winter. and then after the big pop, it would go out and i'd have to relight the pilot. it turned out that one of the regulating components related to the pilot had gone bad and had to be replaced. it was a really straightforward repair job.

but i mean, my furnace is also in my basement, with nothing near it to get caught on fire if it decides to do this. having it be in your bedroom's pretty fucking scary.

there's an actual furnace IN your bedroom? I really doubt that's allowed by the building code. you could talk to your local fire inspector/building inspector and likely get your landlord in a heap of trouble if you're so inclined. might be worth it as it sounds frighteningly dangerous.

I would get renter's insurance for your stuff and hope that you're not actually in the apartment when it burns down. I'm only half kidding. A furnace shouldn't shoot out flames. I hope he fixes it right away, jeb!

Wait, you prefer the layout of myspace to facebook? I'm not standing up for facebook here at all, but myspace has to be one of the ugliest sites on the web. And one of it's key selling points is that you can make it as ugly as you want to!

Yes, I prefer the layout of myspace to facebook. My page is personalised, so it's just as simple as I want it to be. I can't do that with facebook, and I like I said, everything just looks really cluttered to me. There's just too much shit. Also I don't like the colour scheme.

(I don't really use Facebook much myself, and I don't have a single one of those stupid applications installed--like I give a fuck who you want to be compared to!--but I refuse to make a personal profile on Myspace and no one uses Virb. And Facebook does pretty much everything I need to without almost all the major annoyances of Myspace)